


Nú vaknar þú

by treebreaks (bluedreaming)



Category: UNIQ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 17:10:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5214041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedreaming/pseuds/treebreaks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sungjoo finds an old letter he wrote as a child, along with forgotten memories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nú vaknar þú

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kangaroo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangaroo/gifts).



> For my bestest kangaroo for her birthday. I love you <3
> 
>  _Inspired very briefly by[this moment](http://i.imgur.com/ojgYQ1d.gif)_.

_I like lollipops. Big lollipops that go in swirly rainbows that stain my mouth colours and give me blue teeth._

Sungjoo looks at the letter he found in the box he pulled out from underneath the bed when he was dragging the broom across the floor. He can't remember writing it, but judging from the writing, he guesses he was maybe six or seven years old. He runs his tongue over his teeth, remember the sticky sweetness of the candy he used to like so much. The letter must be from before he got a cavity, hiding his face in his dad's shoulder as he reassured a younger Sungjoo that everything was going to be okay.

"You remember to brush your teeth there, young man," he can still remember the dentist saying, and it's true. Sungjoo's mouth tastes like mint now, and he still has the habit of reaching for his toothbrush after he eats anything sweet.

_I don't like school especially the math bits but I love recess and running on the field. Recess is too short and I wish it lasted the whole day._

Sungjoo grins, sinking onto the bed as he scrolls the letter around his hands, letting the paper crinkle as it falls back against the folds, the 2B pencil smudgy on the lined paper that's already turning yellow with age.

"How's it going?" There's a voice filtering up the steps; Sungjoo nods at no one in particular, maybe his six year old self.

"I found an old letter!" He can't hide the excitement in his voice, doesn't even try.

"You were such a cute kid!" the voice calls back, and Sungjoo privately agrees.

_I'm sad that school is over because playing with my friends is fun, but I'm happy because I can play with Yixuan all summer! Mom already said it's okay and I can go over to his house for a sleepover, maybe, if his mom says it's okay. Mom says I have to ask but I already know it's okay. Yixuan's mom like's me more than him. She told me so."_

Sungjoo can't help but laugh at that, he can still remember Yixuan sticking out his tongue and pretending to sulk in the corner of the kitchen until Sungjoo had to go and share his piece of chocolate cake with him. Yixuan's dad always made the best chocolate cake, six-year-old Sungjoo's absolute favourite, and so the fact that he'd shared his piece had been a big deal to him. Yixuan had smiled and eaten the half piece all in one gulp and it had all been okay after that.

_Yixuan said that if I'm nice he'll play hide and seek with me. He thinks he's going to win but I found a spot he'll never find. I won't even write it down._

Sungjoo pauses, the letter come to an abrupt end; he'd probably gotten distracted, pushing it back into his box to come back to later and he never had. He can almost remember, like the faintest threads of memory filtering back from the past as he lifts the yellowing paper to his nose and smells his childhood, warm and sun and wood and a hint of leftover sweetness.

He tries to remember the hiding spot. Had it worked? Had he won? Sungjoo folds the paper between his hands again, the surface smooth, the paper slightly brittle, as he rises to his feet and wanders over to the window, looking down over the street. A lot has changed since elementary school, the trees are taller, the house across the street is a different colour, the woods at the end of the road are now a golf course.

"The woods," he whispers to himself, as the wind from the open window carries in the faintest scent of pine on the breeze, barely a fragrance, more like the memory of a smell.

He remembers creeping through the shadows, peering between the pine needles as he listened for approaching feet, the way the woods always felt like another world, cool and quiet and slightly damp, even in the heat of summer.

That was the year he'd learned to climb trees; his fingers unfold, the letter fluttering to the bed as he can feel the phantom texture of bark beneath his fingers.

"My hiding spot," he tells his reflection in the window class. "The wide shoulder of the pine tree in the hollow." He can remember clambering up the branches, feet slipping on the needles, the roughness of the skin on his palms and the way his muscles got stronger over the course of the summer.

He remembers Yixuan's face, looking for him as Sungjoo peered down through the branches, quiet as a mouse, watching as Yixuan wandered by, eyes combing the shadows, the way he stepped back, startled, as a rabbit ran through the thicket just past the tree.

Yixiuan never found him, because Yixuan didn't know that Sungjoo knew how to climb pine trees; Sungjoo wasn't even sure if Yixuan even knew if it was possible. Sungjoo himself had only tried it one time because he was bored.

Hiding got boring after a while too; when Sungjoo would slip out of the tree and wait for Yixuan outside the trees, announcing his victory, he stopped feeling happy about winning and just felt lonely.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find you," Yixuan would always say, ruffling his hair, and Sungjoo didn't understand why he felt sad. Why he stopped hiding in the woods. Why they started playing something else.

He understands now, as the memories come back to him, his fingers curling into themselves as he looks at the golf course where the woods used to be. He still has the faintest traces on his hands of the calluses he got from climbing trees, and he wishes he could go back and try climbing that pine tree again, but it's gone.

There's a light tapping behind him; Sungjoo was so lost in the past that he didn't hear anyone come up the steps so he twirls around now, heart racing in an automatic reflex as he sees Yixuan standing in the doorway, a half-grin on his face.

"You've gotten a lot of packing done," he says, suppressed laughter tinging his voice bright as he makes a point of looking at the empty boxes piled next to the door, the books still on their shelves and the wardrobe still full of clothing. Sungjoo sticks out his tongue.

"I found this," he says, stooping slightly to gather up the letter from where it had landed on the bed, handing it over to Yixuan who opens it, his face open with curiosity. His eyes scroll across the page, and his face crinkles up with laughter when he reaches the end.

"Your hiding spot!" he says, "I remember!" He's grinning, his smile so wide, and it takes Sungjoo a moment to put two and two together—

"Wait! he says, throwing out a hand, fingers splayed, to rest lightly on Yixuan's chest. "You knew?"

It feels like all his memories are false, like everything has turned over, he always thought that Yixuan couldn't find him and he felt bad about it and— "I can't believe you knew!" Sungjoo exclaims, bunching his fingers to gather up a handful of Yixuan's t-shirt. "I always thought—"

Yixuan smiles fondly, pulling Sungjoo towards him so that he can rest his warm hands on either shoulder.

"Of course I knew," he says, "I could see your orange shirt through the branches, but you were so excited that I just pretended to not be able to find you until you got tired of it."

Sungjoo squiggles his nose in feigned annoyance, even as it feels like a warm glow is spreading through his chest. He wants to give his boyfriend a hug, thank him for being such an awesome friend even before they started dating in university years later. But Yixuan's always been able to tell what he's thinking, as he leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to Sungjoo's nose.

"Thank you," Sungjoo says, and he doesn't know exactly what he's thanking Yixuan for, just that he suddenly needs to say it.

"I love you too," Yixuan replies, as always reading between the lines of Sungjoo's words, and gives his shoulders a squeeze before he lets his hands fall from Sungjoo's shoulders as Sungjoo can't help grumbling in disappointment—"And because I love you I'm going to be nice and help you pack." He reaches for a box and starts stacking books inside; after a brief moment Sungjoo sighs slightly and follows suite.

"After all," Yixuan says a moment later, when his box is almost full, "the sooner we finish the sooner we can get to the apartment and set up the bed." He grins, nudging Sungjoo's arm as Sungjoo suddenly makes the startling discovery that he _loves_ packing and can finish in no time.

"You're so cute," Yixuan says, laughing again; Sungjoo makes a his ugliest face at him and keeps packing.

**Author's Note:**

> The title means _now you are awake_ and is from [Glósóli](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz8iEJeh26E) by Sigur Rós. Thank you to Lonio for the prompt and songs!


End file.
